Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Tetley's beers in 1939
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To say Tetley started the war with an unusual range of beers is a bit of an understatement. Four Mild Ales, a Bitter and a Strong Ale.
Some of the Milds had a very long history. X1 and X2 had been around since at least the 1840s. That’s an awfully long time. Managing to survive WW I as a strong Mild was quite an achievement.
K had been around quite a while, arriving in the 1860s. Though it seems to have changed character, and possibly even style, since its inception. Early versions were incredibly lightly hopped – 2 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt – when their Mild were getting between 6 lbs and 8 lbs.
In the 1880s, when the hopping rate of Milds dropped to between 4 lbs and 6lbs, that of K was boosted to 10 lbs. A massive change. Which seems to have transformed K into a Pale Ale. When the stronger PA was dropped towards the end of WW I, it became Tetley’s only Bitter.
F – which surely stands for Family Ale – is a beer I can remember. In the 1970s, unavailable on draught, it was essentially bottled Mild. I’m not sure if this version was ever sold on draught. I suspect it might have, given that it’s around the strength of interwar Ordinary Mild.
While X1 looks very much like a 6d per pint Best Mild. X2 I’m really not sure about. It’s awfully strong for a 1930s Mild. I can’t remember seeing another of this strength. So perhaps it was sold as a draught Old Ale.
The hopping rates are very low. More in line with Scotland than England. Fullers. For example, hopped their Mild and Burton Ales at 7 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) or malt and their Pale Ales at 9 lbs. While Lees over the Pennines hopped both their Mild and Bitter and around 7 lbs per quarter.
What’s missing from the set? A Stout of any description. I could just have missed it. But it’s also missing from the records from the 1920s and earlier 1930s which I have.
| Tetley's beers in 1939 |
| Beer |
Style |
OG |
FG |
ABV |
App. Atten-uation |
lbs hops/ qtr |
hops lb/brl |
Pitch temp |
| F |
Mild |
1034.9 |
1011.6 |
3.08 |
66.67% |
3.76 |
0.51 |
62º |
| X1 |
Mild |
1042.4 |
1011.4 |
4.10 |
73.20% |
3.76 |
0.61 |
63º |
| X1 Pale |
Mild |
1042.9 |
1013.9 |
3.85 |
67.74% |
4.23 |
0.71 |
63º |
| X2 |
Mild |
1055.4 |
1011.9 |
5.75 |
78.50% |
4.72 |
1.08 |
62º |
| K |
Pale Ale |
1047.9 |
1011.6 |
4.80 |
75.72% |
4.77 |
0.88 |
62º |
| XXX |
Strong Ale |
1090.9 |
1030.2 |
8.03 |
66.77% |
4.72 |
1.76 |
62º |
| Source: |
| Tetley brewing record held at the West Yorkshire Archive Services, document number WYL756/ACC3349/557. |
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